Just in case there are skeptics in the Illinois high school girls field hockey community who don’t believe Evanston’s run to the Final Four last year makes them a program --- not just a one-year wonder --- to be reckoned with, those doubters won’t have to wait long to find out just how legit the Wildkits are.
The schedule will provide the answer --- maybe right away.
Coach Annie Lesch’s squad, fresh off a school record 14 win season in 2023, will open the 2024 campaign Monday night at Lazier Field at 7:15 p.m. against perennial power New Trier.
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Like any head coach, Lesch is smart enough to know you don’t pin your season hopes on the outcome of just one game. But the matchup with the Trevians, last year’s state runnerup, at the very least offers an opportunity to make some more history.
The Wildkits have never beaten their neighbors to the north, unless you count a 2-1 triumph in a meeting between the two programs this summer.
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“We did scrimmage them in the summer and beat them, but I’m not foolish enough to think it was our best against their best,” Lesch said. “It was a multi-level scrimmage, with incoming freshmen up to seniors, and I’m pretty sure some of their best players were out of town.
“It’s just the luck of the draw for us (Monday). We’ll still be shaking off the rust for this game and we’re just hoping we can break through and score against them. Our girls are realistic. They know it’s going to be super tough.”
The early season showdown is a chance for the Kits to get off on the right foot in their pursuit of more state tournament success. Six returning starters are hungry to make that journey to State again, according to their head coach.
Goalie Bridget Lesch, the coach’s daughter, is one of nine seniors on the ETHS roster. The other returning starters include junior Sasha Hammond, junior Sienna Seyferth, senior Penny Ballard and senior Addie Dodzik.
“There hasn’t been a ton of talk about going to State. Right now our focus is on individual skills, and being able to execute,” Coach Lesch said. “But the goal is to get back there. We don’t want to see a huge dip in our (overall) play after last year (14-7-1 overall record), even though now we’ll have more of a target on our backs.”
In a sport where 1-0 scores are typical outcomes, and goals are hard to come by, the focus is always on improvement on offense and putting the ball in the back of the net. The Wildkits will have to overcome the loss of Makayla Clark, the leading scorer in the program’s short 6-year history.
Clark scored a single season record 24 goals for last year’s squad and is now playing at the University of New Hampshire. She scored 5 goals in a single game last year and will be difficult, if not impossible, to replace.
“Obviously we lost some big players (to graduation) and Makayla is one of them,” Lesch agreed. “She really had the ability to put the ball in the back of the net. That’s going to be the deciding factor for us this year, whether or not we can finish (scoring) plays.
“We do have a really strong group of forwards coming back like (sophomore) Maggie Bird and (senior) Jesse LeSage. You can really tell who played in the off-season. I think they have more confidence now and they know they need to take on bigger roles for us to be successful.”
Junior Natalie Lesch, sister of Bridget, and freshman Melia Seyferth, sister of Sienna, are expected to bolster the defensive unit. Help will also come from seniors Sofia Goldberg, Ella Nicholson, Beri Rams, Megan Hughes and Lillian Zenkich; juniors Dylan Morrow, Finley Allen, Vivie Aceves and goalie Frances Fiegen; sophomores Sofia Jenio, Kate Mackey and Olive Lassman; and freshman Evie Holstine.
The Wildkits, who lost to New Trier 6-0 in the state semifinals last year, will play defending state champion Glenbrook South on the road on September 25th.
